Sol Campbell RSS feedhttp://www.fourfourtwo.com/sulzeer-campbell
enSee ya, Joey! 7 memorable short-term spells to rival Barton's Rangers sojournThe Glasgow giants and former Manchester City midfielder agreed a mutual contract termination this week.Jake Conneelylooks back at other stints that were over before theyd really begunhttp://www.fourfourtwo.com/features/see-ya-joey-7-memorable-short-term-spells-rival-bartons-rangers-sojourn
1. Chop Souey
Graeme Souness has always come across as a tough and fearless character in his roles as player, manager and pundit, but even he probably still has nightmares about Ali Dia.
While in charge of Southampton in 1996, the Scot received a call from someone purporting to be George Weah, the Milan striker who'd been named FIFA World Player of the Year a few months previously. The caller advised Souness to sign his cousin, who'd supposedly represented Paris Saint-Germain in the past, and Dia was duly offered a one-month contract.
An injury sustained by Matt Le Tissier after just 32 minutes of Southampton's Premier League clash with Leeds saw the striker summoned from the bench, but it was clear almost immediately that something was amiss. "Bambi on ice" was how Le Tissier described a truly dreadful performance; Souness, realising he'd been had - the person on the phone was a university student rather than a world-class footballer - hooked Dia before the end of the encounter.
The youngster was released just two weeks into his deal, securing his position as the worst signing in Premier League history.
2. Heart, no Sol
Sol Campbell made a bold decision in choosing to joinArsenal from north London rivals Tottenhamin 2001, but that wasn't the most eye-catching move of his career.
After three years at Portsmouth, the 34-year-old found himself without a club at the start of the 2009/10 campaign. It wasn't much of a surprise that the centre-back wanted to continue playing; what did come as a shock, though, was the identity of his next employers.
League Two outfit Notts County had recently appointed Sven-Goran Eriksson as their director of football, and it was the former England boss' influence - as well as the offer of a £40,000-a-week contract - that persuaded Campbell to drop down to the fourth tier. He didn't last long, though, departing after just a single appearance amid accusations of broken promises.
3. Didi really sign?
Dietmar Hamann was deemed surplus to requirements at Liverpool in the summer of 2006, with Bolton manager Sam Allardyce quickly pouncing in a bid to bring the German to the Reebok.
Hamann was won over by Allardyce's offer and penned a pre-contract agreement with the Trotters, only to change his mind and join Manchester City a mere 24 hours later.
It wasn't all bad news for Bolton, though: the club received £300,000 in compensation from City, which was a tidy sum of money for a day's work.
4. Guardiola sent packing
Hold your horses, Manchester City fans, we don't meanthatGuardiola. It was Sergio rather than Pep who earned the wrath of his employers last year, with Barcelona terminating the youngster's contract just a day after it was signed.
His crime? Making offensive comments about the club on Twitter a few years before. Guardiola denied writing the posts himself and tried to shift the blame onto a friend, but Barca weren't buying it. The Spaniard moved to Granada shortly after and is currently on loan at Adelaide United.
OFFICIAL: Sergi #Guardiola is officially a red. Excited reds fans? #FPF pic.twitter.com/ks0DmgvzaQ Front Page Football (@FrontPgFootball) September 22, 2016
5. Five-day all-inclusive in Turkey
Despite enjoying some success during his four years with Watford, Hameur Bouazza proved to be yet another poor Lawrie Sanchez signing at Fulham.
Few tears were therefore shed at Craven Cottage when Sivasspor swooped in for his signature in 2009, but the Turkish sunshine wasn't enough to prevent the Algerian's early exit. Bouazza played only one match for the club before departing five days after signing, the midfielder stating his desire to find a different project elsewhere.
Perhaps he just fancied a bit of sea air: Blackpool was Bouazza's next destination.
6. Take me home
It's common for players to retain an affection for the club where they began their career, particularly if they also managed to win a trophy during their formative years, as David Unsworth did at Everton.
The defender struggled to move on emotionally following his exit from Goodison Park in 1997; after a year at West Ham, Unsworth was sold to Aston Villa for £3 million, but a bout of homesickness brought his time in the Midlands to an end just one month later. Everton heeded his call and brought him back to Merseyside, where he remained until 2004.
7. Welcome to Sarajevo
A different language, culture and cuisine can all be difficult for players to adapt to upon moving abroad, but Javier Hervas had a very specific reason for failing to settle in Sarajevo after swapping Brisbane Roar for Zeljeznicarin the summer.
While walking his dog in the capital, the Spaniard and his wife were attacked by a group of stray dogs on the street. Understandably saken by the incident, Javier Hervas decided to call a premature end to his Bosnian adventure despite not having yet played a game, with the club agreeing to terminate his contract.
New features you'd like every day on FourFourTwo.com
featureThu, 10 Nov 2016 10:45:39 +0000Greg Lea648988 at http://www.fourfourtwo.comWhat if football personalities did The Apprentice? FourFourTwo imagines…Its that time of year again: when over-confident clots compete in business battles, as Lord Sugar scarcely able to conceal his crushing boredom looks on. Chas Newkey-Burden imagines what would happen if football folk joined the fray...Chas Newkey-Burdenhttp://www.fourfourtwo.com/features/what-if-football-personalities-did-apprentice-fourfourtwo-imagines
Harry Kane
The archetypal underestimated candidate. At the start, everyone assumes he’s a bit dim but he turns out to be a shrewd, lethal operator.
Graeme Le Saux
Would be the posh, well-educated candidate who Lord Sugar particularly relishes nailing to the wall in the boardroom.
Arsene Wenger
The Gunners boss would absolutely romp home in the shopping round, when candidates have to buy everything on a list as cheaply as possible. He would ultimately finish fourth, treating the outcome as a significant triumph.
Zlatan Ibrahimovic
The self-assured striker would be in his element in the opening episode, when the candidates introduce themselves with un-self-aware, arrogant brags. “I can’t help but laugh at how perfect I am,” he’d say to the camera. Then, leaving the boardroom following his eventual firing, he would sniff: “I came like a hero, left like a legend.”
Terry Venables
Would fall out bitterly with Lord Sugar, sparking years of litigation.
Jack Wilshere
The pint-sized midfielder would miss most of the tasks after being rushed to hospital with a sprained ankle. Would eventually stumble into the boardroom, slurring about the opposing team: “What d’ya fink of Synergy?”
Jose Mourinho
Task one: winner. Task two: winner. Task three: fired.
Joey Barton
The motor-mouth would court controversy and generally fall out with everyone, like a slightly more masculine Katie Hopkins.Sol Campbell
Would swap sides mid-task.
Andy Gray
The disgraced broadcaster would particularly relish the early stages when men and women are kept apart in separate teams. However, he would ultimately be fired after verbally abusing Karren Brady.
Karren Brady
Would be Karren Brady.
Louis van Gaal
The Dutchman would be one of the candidates who volunteer with suicidal arrogance to be team captain in the first week. Despite mounting a monstrously haughty defence of himself in the boardroom, King Louis would be nailed on to be fired at the first hurdle.
Mark Noble
The one at the back you didn't notice until week six, who is then fired for not contributing enough.
John Terry
Would keep turning up each week, even after he’d been fired.
Harry Redknapp
A brilliant candidate, wheeling and dealing his way through week after week, but in the interview round would furiously storm off after one of Lord Sugar’s quizzical brutes describes him as said “wheeler dealer”.
Sam Allardyce
Back at the house, Big Sam would neck a pint of wine and then give an indiscreet VT interview to the producers. On the You’re Fired spin-off show, he’d complain that “entrapment has won”.
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featureThu, 06 Oct 2016 08:21:20 +0000Joe Brewin635335 at http://www.fourfourtwo.com16 FIFA glitches that actually happened in real lifeJames Maw lists moments when real life football seemed like something out of FIFA or PES - and not in a good way...James Mawhttp://www.fourfourtwo.com/features/16-fifa-glitches-actually-happened-real-life
1. Ghost 1-0 Bailly
Supernatural forces at work, or was Manchester United's summer signing just playing with a lead weight around his neck?
A ghost pulled Bailly to the ground... https://t.co/lJzeGRQrFy
— Football Stuff (@FootbalIStuff) October 2, 2016
2. Timing is everything
Raheem Sterling thinks he's down with the kids– but someone should probably tell him that you don't just dab willy-nilly.
Don't think Sterling knows the right time to dab. pic.twitter.com/kbv9JBYNXN
— P. (@Unitedesque) October 2, 2016
3. Foul, ref!
Surely...
Un clásico glitch de #FIFA en la vida real. pic.twitter.com/DIR9FLiquQ
— Estadio (@estadioec) May 9, 2016
4. Xabi Alonso ghosts in
We should have known all along that those Bayern Munich passing stats of his were all a con. Look, he's not even a human being.
5. Heads, shoulders, knees and toes
KNEES AND TOES!
6. Sissoko's no-look header
Moussa Sissoko certainly wouldn't be the first player to head the ball with his eye closed, but not many player can have nodded one away while looking in completely the opposite direction. That's just so unrealistic...
7. Madrid malfunction
"No, I'M throwing it..."
8. Chelsea are broken
This is just weird...
9. Sol Campbell's never-ending tackle
No, not like that. The former Notts County defender must have feared for his life during England's infamous Wembley defeat to Croatia in 2007. The same downpour that saw Steve McClaren reach for his brolly also caused the former Tottenham and Arsenal defender to slide on his ample rump for about seven minutes...
10. CR7 takes to the skies
While Campbell spent an age on the deck, Cristiano Ronaldo got some gnarly hang-time in Real Madrid's Champions League clash with Manchester United in 2012/13...
11. Heads up!
Another header - this time from Bayern Munich's 1975 European Cup SemiFfinal second leg against Saint-Etienne. Witness both the wall jumping ludicrously early, and the defender heading the ball freakishly high into the Munich sky.
12. Van der Vaart's brain faart
Questionable AI has been a problem that has plagued football games since the dawn of time. Rafael van der Vaart strikes FFT as quite an intelligent footballer (he left Tottenham at the right time, let's face it), but we're not quite sure what he was thinking here...
13. Man (and man and man) to man marking
Here's another bout of dodgy AI, as four defenders all brainlessly chase one player (Brazilian playmaker Denilson)...
14. KEEEEEEEPER'S!!!
Yeah, you've got it covered mate...
15. Getting the runaround
Ever had a smug mate take the Michael by bringing his keeper out and taking on half your team? This eerily grainy video will haunt your dreams...
16. Chris Wood has some neck on him
This is really the kind of thing that only happens in a video game. Or in this case, in real life...
More FIFA 17 on FourFourTwo.com • New features every day
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featureMon, 03 Oct 2016 10:18:32 +0000James Maw142948 at http://www.fourfourtwo.com10 of the most spectacular debuts: Elbows, own-goals and no-showsPaul Pogba does it all over again for Manchester United tonight but few beginnings are as explosive as these 10, as Louis Massarella explainsLouis Massarellahttp://www.fourfourtwo.com/features/10-most-spectacular-debuts-elbows-own-goals-and-no-shows
1. Don’t cry for the Flea, Argentina
“It wasn’t the way I dreamed it would be.” No s***, Lionel. Messi exited the international stage just 47 seconds after making his senior bow in 2005. The 18-year-old substitute was shown the red card for allegedly elbowing Vilmos Vanczak after the Hungarian defender had tugged the Flea’s shirt. Little is known of what’s happened to the Argentine, except that he’s never been sent off since. He must have disappeared into obscurity.
READ THISLionel Messi has never had it easy for Argentina – but quitting now is the biggest blot
2. Rioting ruins Barton’s big day
Warren Barton’s international debut lasted longer – but not much longer. England’s ‘friendly’ against the Republic of Ireland was supposed to be the Wimbledon right-back’s proudest moment – 20 members of his family had gone to Dublin to watch – but the match was abandoned after 27 minutes amid a flurry of missile throwing from so-called fans. Barton’s chance to impress ahead of Euro 96 was gone and he failed to make the squad. Thanks, guys.
3. Oh power of Tallin, when will we see your lights again?
At least Barton was awarded a cap. No such reward for supposed debutants Jackie McNamara and Billy Dodds in 1996, following one of the most farcical episodes in international football history. After Scotland’s game in Estonia was switched from an evening kick-off to 3pm over concerns about the Kadriog Stadium floodlights, the home team staged a no-show in protest. Craig Brown’s men kicked off regardless, 11 seconds later the final whistle was blown and Scotland were awarded a 3-0 win. A winning start for Dodds and McNamara – or so they thought. FIFA ordered a rematch at a neutral venue, which ended 0-0.
FEATUREOne team in Tallinn: players talk about the game
4. Seven reasons to sack your goalkeeper
“I need more time and experience. Maybe next time.” Unfortunately for Herman Rulander, there wouldn’t be a next time. Standing in for injured Dieter Burdenski against Eintracht Frankfurt, the 21-year-old keeper let in seven goals on his Werder Bremen debut in 1981 –one an own goal, scored by our hero himself –before being substituted by Otto Rehhagel. Two weeks later, he was given a cheque for 50,000 Deutschmarks (about £11,000 then; about £37,000 now) and asked never to darken Werder's dressing room again.
5. Burnley’s Billy the Kid let off the hook
Not every debutant keeper is treated so harshly when he ships seven. In fact, after Burnley’s Billy O’Rourke left the pitch in tears after doing just that against QPR in 1979, the Burnley Express took pity on the 19-year-old and named him man of the match, instead blaming the defenders. Bless.
Luckily for posterity, if not for Billy, his big day was in front of the Match of the Day cameras. Note how Barry Davies slides into benign paternalistic despair as Burnley collapse– and see how much a young Glenn Roeder unselfconsciously delights in scoring that vital seventh goal.
6. Ronan sees red on his swansong
Twice the age of Billy O’Rourke but just as likely to blub, Ronan Le Crom personifies the dangers of sentiment. His was an unspectacular career: he spent 11 years at Auxerre, playing just three games, before a wandering decade representing six French clubs.
At 38, he was third-choice goalkeeper for PSG, and with his retirement imminent, he came off the bench in the final game of 2012/13 at Lorient to ensure he was eligible for a championship medal. Just 21 minutes later he was back off again, red-carded into retirement. Not that it mattered much: although makeshift goalkeeper Mamadou Sakho couldn’t save the penalty, PSG held on for a 3-1 win.
7. Beitar debutant breaks down barriers
Regardless of performance, few players can have made as big an impact on debut than Gabriel Kadiev. The 19-year-old became Beitar Jerusalem’s first ever Muslim player in February 2013, two days after the club’s offices were destroyed in a fire started by angry fans.
But as the Chechen midfielder entered the pitch in the 80th minute, boos were drowned out by cheers. ‘Violence and racism? Not on our field’ read one banner. Sometimes the good guys win.
8. The name’s Eastwood, Freddie Eastwood
“We brought in Freddie to score goals and we’ve seen he can do that.” Southend boss Steve Tilson wasn’t kidding. It took Eastwood just 7.7 seconds to open his account for the Shrimpers in 2004, on his way to a hat-trick against Swansea. A month later the 21-year-old’s loan was made permanent, in which time, our maths tells us, he could have scored 336,623 goals if he’d kept up his early rate.
9. Campbell’s County calamity
Sol Campbell was promised more big signings, such as famed duo “Roberto Carlos and Benjani”. Notts County expected Premier League performances in League Two. In the end, neither got either. Just four days after a nightmare debut for the Magpies in 2009 – in which he misplaced a backpass after four seconds and was responsible for one of Morecambe’s goals in a 2-1 defeat – the Sol Man’s five-year contract was terminated by mutual discontent.
10. “Right, who fancies going in nets?”
It should have been such a happy day. At the age of 24, Lee Yoon-eui was finally going to play his first 90 minutes as a professional footballer, in goal for Korean side Sangju Sangmu. Trouble is, he was a full-back.
Sangmu are the team of the military, made up of Korean players undergoing their national service. That presumably guarantees a certain level of organisation, fitness and camaraderie; sadly for Lee, it also means they can't take any transfers, even when their goalkeepers are unavailable.
Lee wasn't even the first-choice outfielder: he was the fourth to be tested between the sticks. Even so, he kept a clean sheet for 45 minutes and the army side went in 1-0 up– but in the second half the nerves kicked in, he conceded three and Sangju lost in the final minute. Disney have yet to announce a film adaptation.
More features every day on FourFourTwo.com• More lists
featureFri, 19 Aug 2016 15:21:45 +0000Jon Fadugba220831 at http://www.fourfourtwo.comSol: Wenger needs to nail down Walcott's roleFormer England international Sol Campbell has criticised Arsene Wengers role in the development of Theo Walcott.http://www.fourfourtwo.com/news/sol-wenger-needs-nail-down-walcotts-role
Campbell, who played under Wenger during his six years at Arsenal, says there hasn’t been enough communication between the pair and, as a result, it has affected Walcott’s development during his decade at the Emirates Stadium.
Walcott joined Arsenal from Southampton in 2006 when he was just 17, and despite the England man's continued pleas to be played as a centre-forward, he has been deployed out wide for the majority of his 334 club appearances.
And although Walcott does play up front, it isn’t consistently, with Campbell calling for Wenger to play Walcott in one position and avoid alternating his role.
“I don’t think it’s fair. He’s a great lad who has played for England and done very well,”said Campbell, speaking exclusively to 888sport.“He doesn’t deserve all that.
“He [Wenger] needs to set the team up and explain to Theo where he wants him on the pitch. What is his best position? As a centre-forward or out wide coming in?
“That conversation needs to happen between the manager and player and it needs to be a frank and honest conversation.
“He needs to get into his head, play the game for him and show him the light.”
Read the full 888sport interview with Sol Campbell here, including why he believes Arsenal are still the top dogs in north London, despite Spurs' impressive season.
news_articleFri, 04 Mar 2016 18:09:56 +0000Gregg Davies540392 at http://www.fourfourtwo.comSol: Arsenal still the top team in north LondonFormer Arsenal and Tottenham centre-back Sol Campbell claims Arsenal are still better than their north London rivals.http://www.fourfourtwo.com/news/sol-arsenal-still-top-team-north-london
Campbell spent nine years at Tottenham before moving across London to join their fierce rivals Arsenal. And having lifted the League Cup with Spurs, Campbell went onto win three FA Cups and two Premier League titles as a Gunner.
Campbell admits Spurs have improved vastly this season as the sides prepare for a potentially pivotal derby clash, but he believes that unless they maintain this title-challenging form, they’ll continue to be in the shadow of Arsenal.
“If you’re looking at quality then Arsenal’s quality of football has been superior,” said Campbell, speaking exclusively to 888sport.
“You have to look at it over five to 10 years to see how consistent they are, and Tottenham have really come into their own this season. They have improved but let’s see after five seasons.”
Having played a combined 14 years for the two clubs, Campbell is well aware of the magnitude of this game for both sides. Campbell believes it is now a three-horse race for the title, and although Spurs have the upper hand, Arsenal can quickly atone for their slip-up against Swansea with a win on Saturday.
“It’s a massive game. This is the business end of the season and it’s a three-horse race,” said Campbell. “The players know that now and it’s all about who gets the job done.
“Spurs are working as a fantastic unit and it’s all about consistency. They’ve had a great season and let’s see how they finish it off. If they get through all these big games they deserve to win it.
“For Arsenal it’s catch-up time but they are very lucky they’re playing Tottenham because they at least have a chance to rectify it [their surprise midweek defeat].
“What if they didn’t have a derby and it wasn’t in your hands to beat them and pull them back? Then you’re hoping for other teams to help you out.”
Read the full 888sport interview with Sol Campbell here, including how he thinks Theo Walcott needs to nail down a position in Arsene Wenger's starting XI.
news_articleFri, 04 Mar 2016 17:48:00 +0000Gregg Davies540369 at http://www.fourfourtwo.com10 of the most short-lived transfers everKevin Grosskreutz has returned to Germany with Stuttgart without making a single appearance for Galatasaray. Hes not the only one to leave before hes even started, though, as FFTs Chris Flanagan attests...Chris Flanaganhttp://www.fourfourtwo.com/features/10-most-short-lived-transfers-ever
1. No goals in pre-season? You're sold!
English football's first £1m signing Trevor Francis scored the winning goal in the 1979 European Cup Final for Nottingham Forest, but the first teenage seven-figure signing made much less of an impact at his new club.
Clive Allen was 19 when Arsenal boss Terry Neill spent £1.25m to sign him from QPR in the summer of 1980. He'd scored 32 goals in 49 appearances for Rangers, but after none in three pre-season games for his new club the young striker was moved on to Crystal Palace in a swap deal with Kenny Sansom and Paul Barron.
There were suggestions that the Gunners had wanted Sansom all along, and this had been their plan to get him, but Allen wasn't convinced. "Several different theories were put forward," he said. "There was no foundation to any of them. I mean, if Arsenal wanted Kenny, why didn't they just buy him from Palace?"
2. "The English, what have they won?"
Stephane Guivarc'h shot to fame as the striker who somehow couldn't score in the France team that was busy winning the 1998 World Cup.
Those were presumablythe credentials that Newcastle thought would be perfect for them when they signed Guivarc'h shortly before the tournament from Auxerre. Perhaps they hoped the frontman and his knack of failing to score would turn the rest of the Newcastle team into Zidane, Djorkaeff and Henry.
Unfortunately, though, it didn't quite work out that way. He did net on his debut against Liverpool but made only four appearances before Ruud Gullit, in as manager for Kenny Dalglish, sold him to Rangers for £3.5m.
He was later named as one of the Premier League's worst ever strikers in a national newspaper survey, to whichGuivarc'h later retorted: "This survey, I don't give a damn about it. It was done just to tease and mock me. What a story - a truly pointless stunt. But let's get to the point. The English. What have they won since the World Cup in 1966?" Charming.
3. Bebe steps
Portuguese forward Bebe was happy enough when Europa League regulars Vitoria Guimaraes signed him on a free transfer from cash-strapped Estrela da Amadora in 2010. So he presumably couldn't believe his luck a few weeks later when, before he'd even played a game for Vitoria, Manchester United made their move... for £7.4m. Bebe certainly must have been something special in pre-season –so much so that Vitoria had swiftly increased his previous buyout clause of €3m.
But that form swiftly evaporated and he made only seven appearances for United, spending time on loan at Besiktas, Rio Ave andPaços de Ferreirabefore joining the former permanently in July 2014. After playing once for the Eagles he was shipped off on loan again to Cordoba, then Rayo Vallecano for the 2015/16 campaign. Perhaps he just doesn't like the cold.
4. Notts the perfect move
Sol Campbell spent longer as a potential candidate to be London Mayor than he did as a Notts County player.
Amid talk of a Middle East takeover and ambitions to reach the Premier League, the League Two club appointed Sven-Goran Eriksson as director of football and then lured Campbell to Meadow Lane on a five-year deal in 2009 after the defender had left Portsmouth.
Despite dropping down three divisions, Campbell had a nightmare debut in a defeat at Morecambe and left Notts County days later after becoming increasingly concerned that the club might not have the bright future they believed. "Sven still hasn’t said sorry for getting me involved," Campbell told FFT last year.
5. "Will he return? I hope he doesn't"
The notoriously hard-to-handle Kevin-Prince Boateng spent so little time at Genoa that he didn't even have the opportunity to fall out with anyone. The Serie A side paid Portsmouth £5m for the midfielder in August 2010, only to immediately ship him out to Milan on loan with a view to a permanent deal.
"Genoa were following Boateng before the 2010 World Cup in South Africa," said club president Enrico Preziosi. "Milan have an unusual situation, as they have many players in the last year of their contracts and are keeping an eye on the balance sheet.
"Instead we had more of an opportunity to move for Boateng. For now he is joining the Rossoneri on loan. If Milan buy him outright then it'll mean we both saw this is a great player and Genoa will have made a healthy profit. Will he return to Genoa? He could do, but in a way I hope he doesn't."
Well, there's nothing like making your new signing feel wanted. And no, he never did return.
6. No work permit? No problem! Oh wait...
In 2013, Stoke agreed a pre-contract deal to sign Juan Agudelo when the United States international's contract at New England Revolution expired. This all seemed fine, until Agudelo failed to secure a work permit. Maybe that might have been a bit of a warning sign, but Stoke decided to sign him anyway and send him out on loan until the forward qualified for a permit.
So Agudelo joined Eredivisie side Utrechtfor the second half of the 2013/14 season, but three goals in 14 appearances later he re-applied for his work permit –and the Home Office still said no. Stoke swiftly terminated the youngster's contract and he went full circle with a return to New England Revolution.
7. Coventry, or Real Madrid...
Three clubs who so often go together: Real Betis, Real Madrid and... er, Coventry City? In the summer of 1998, Robert Jarni was faced with a dilemma. Weeks after helping Croatia to third place at the World Cup, Gordon Strachan had lured Jarni to Highfield Road for £2.6m from Betis when Real Madrid suddenly decided they wanted to buy the left-wing-back.
It is, of course, impossible to know which of those two clubs to choose. Jarni thought long and hard about it... and then joined Real Madrid for £3.4m.
"I wouldn't say it was my wife's decision," said Jarni, while intimating that it was his wife's decision. "It was a family decision – my family was against moving to England. We had small children, my daughter was in elementary school in Spain and we preferred to stay there rather than move to England. I was honest about it, and when I told Strachan, he understood."
8. 'I don't even have a son!'
Steed Malbranque made the decision to return to France after 10 years in English footballwhen he signed for Saint-Etienne from Sunderland in 2011. Only a month later, though, it was reported that Malbranque had asked to be released from his contract to look after his son, who was apparently battling cancer.
But it turned out that his son wasn't battling cancer. In fact, he didn't even have a son. "Steed does not know the origin of these stories but would like to stress that they are without merit," read a statement released on his behalf. "His immediate family are all in good health." Whatever the mysterious reason, Malbranque left anyway, spending a year out of the game before rejoining his former club Lyon in 2012.
9. Taking the Mikel
"I am pleased to get the chance to play for one of the biggest clubs in the world," said an 18-year-old John Obi Mikel in 2006. "I'm looking forward to it."
The only problem was, that club was Manchester United, and Chelsea also believed they had agreed a deal. United's announcement of Mikel's signing from Norwegian club Lyn Oslo –complete with pictures of the Nigerian holding up the shirt –proved premature as a legal wrangle ensued. As United fans became angered by a deal that was slipping away from the club, Mikel was assigned a security guard and moved to a safe hotel amid claims he'd been subjected to threatening phone calls. Mikel also briefly went missing, sparking widespread media coverage. In the end Chelsea came to an agreement with United and Lyn, and Mikel moved to Stamford Bridge. They paid the price, though: £12m to United in two instalments, and £4m to Lyn.
10. Once bitten, twice bitten...
If there's one thing that the former Watford and Fulham midfielder Hameur Bouazza has learned (eventually) over the past few years, it's that south-east Europe is not for him.
Bouazza has transferred to the region not once but twice, but was on the plane back to England quicker than some of the summer tourists. The Algerian joined Turkish club Sivasspor in 2009 but his debut ended with a 3-0 Europa League defeat to Shakhtar Donetsk. Within five days of arriving he was off, released from his contract after saying he didn't like the city.
Bouazza went back to England with Blackpool and Millwall before moving to Cyprus with Omonia Nicosia. To his credit, this time he lasted a whole two months, although unfortunately for Omonia he was on his way again when the football season started. "I leave Omonia Nicosia amicably with the assurance that the club will not trouble me," said Bouazza. How nice of them. These days he can be found in France's third tier.
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featureWed, 06 Jan 2016 17:36:36 +0000Joe Brewin438880 at http://www.fourfourtwo.com8 title-deciding signings to give Arsenal fans hope for Petr CechAfter snapping up Chelseas long-serving keeper, the north Londoners will be keen to flex their muscle at the top of the table this time. And why not? They (and others) have done it before, writesRobert OConnor...Robert O'Connorhttp://www.fourfourtwo.com/features/8-title-deciding-signings-give-arsenal-fans-hope-petr-cech
1) Sol Campbell, Arsenal (2001/02)
In 2001, Arsenal had hit a wall. The Double of ’98 had faded into memory and even the additions of Thierry Henry and Robert Pires had failed to revitalise a side that was slipping further away from Manchester United at the top. The nadir was reached when they conceded a third straight title to United on Easter Saturday, just weeks after crashing 6-1 at Old Trafford with a central defensive partnership of Gilles Grimandi and the less-than-irrepressible Igor Stepanovs.
Sol Campbell’s signing in mid-July reaffirmed Arsenal as a force in a way that even the arrival of a promising-but-scattergun Henry two years earlier had failed to, and overnight the team acquired a robustness that reinforced the delicate magic of its frontline. In 12 months with Campbell at the heart of the defence, Arsenal inflicted a 17-point reversal on United at the top, and claimed another double (with Sylvain Wiltord scoring this memorable winning goal at Old Trafford in 2002).
2) Luis Figo, Real Madrid (2000/01)
Three utterly bizarre things happened in Spain in summer 2000. The first is that Real Madrid finished a distant and dismal fifth in La Liga, seven points behind unlikely champions Deportivo La Coruna. The second is that they had the audacity to swipe Barcelona’s Luis Figo, their great rivals’ talisman at the height of his potency, from across the Clasico divide. The third – and 15 years later this still teases the senses – is that they succeeded.
Figo was the 15th player in over a hundred years of bitter rivalry to make the switch directly from Camp Nou to Bernebeau, but the first to shatter the world transfer record in the process. The Portuguese helped conjure a rise of phoenix-like proportions in dragging Real from upper-mid-table back to the league summit, in doing so putting a whopping 17 points between his new and former employers. £37m shrewdly invested.
3) Samuel Eto’o, Barcelona (2004/05)
Perhaps the sweetest part of 2005’s title success for Barcelona fans, quite apart from the fact that it was the first time they’d worn the La Liga crown in six seasons, was the ease with which their fresh-faced, £19m new signing Samuel Eto’o helped himself to 29 goals. The Cameroonian's sparkling debut season apparently left behindwhatever hang-ups he acquired when being dismissed as surplus to requirements by Real Madrid four years earlier.
4) Robin van Persie, Man United (2012/13)
Football is often won and lost in the head. That one player’s inclusion can radically alter the way a club thinks about itself was never more apparent than when Robin van Persie defected to Old Trafford from Arsenal in 2012, just weeks after United’s supremacy had received a lethal blow from the new champions across Manchester.
Van Persie’s arrival re-asserted United as a side that could still crush even their fiercest rivals, soothing the club’s ego at a time when it was under attack from their noisy neighbours.
Remarkably, United scored fewer goals en route to reclaiming their title than they had when losing it to City in 2012, but while Roberto Mancini’s team crumpled under the pressure of leading from the top, United quietly and calmly let their new talisman fire them to a 20th league crown with 26 Premier League goals.
5) Jens Lehman, Arsenal (2003/04)
Two years after the Campbell masterstroke, Wenger repeated the trick. As David Seaman’s stellar career in the Gunners goal limped to its injury-ravaged end, the north Londoners lost out on the title in 2003 with a makeshift double act of Stuart Taylor and Rami Shaaban, the first in a long line of disastrous goalkeeping experiments.
Jens Lehman was a fine goalkeeper, but his arrival meant more than that. He added focus, steel and bite to a side so often accused of complacency in their title capitulation. His class as a player aside, Lehman’s thunderbolt impact on the mentality of a team that had begun to believe its own hype was worth a sizeable portion of Henry’s 30-goal Golden Boot-winning haul, as the Gunners went the season unbeaten.
6) Andrea Pirlo, Juventus (2011/12)
“His words assault you. They crash through the doors of your mind, often quite violently, and settle deep within you.” Andrea Pirlo is as idiosyncratic with his words as with his feet, and for former Juventus boss Antonio Conte he demonstrated both. The Italian maestro’s testimony to the man who he helped to win three Serie A titles after Juventus had suffered seven doleful years with nothing – and not least after Milan had left him on the scrapheap – is pure Pirlo. It remains to be seen if the great man will take the good times with him from Turin to New York.
7) Juan Sebastian Veron, Lazio (1999/00)
Lazio smashed their transfer record to sign Parma’s mercurial midfield engine Juan Veron in time for their centenary celebrations in 1999 – and there was an overwhelming sense that the planets were aligning. It had been 26 years since I Biancocelesti’s last and only Serie A title, but despite blowing the league title on the penultimate day of the 1998/99 season with a limp draw at Fiorentina, the club boasted stellar names and a budget to match.
The side lived and breathed by the fleet-footed genius of Sinisa Mihajlovic, Christian Vieri and Marcelo Salas, but in the close season Sven-Goran Erikson recognised that his team lacked a failsafe against the kind of late-season collapse that had scuppered their title bid, and so turned to the wrecking ball Veron. It was £18 million well spent; the industrious Argentine missed only three games as Lazio held their nerve in a nail-biting run against Juventus to barge their way to a second scudetto.
8) Eric Cantona, Man United (1992/93)
When Eric Cantona pitched up at Manchester United in December 1992, there were two obstacles to conquer. One was Mike Walker’s Norwich, sitting pretty at the top of the new Premier League table. The other was the ghost of 26 barren years at Old Trafford that even five years of Sir Alex Ferguson’s sustained attention hadn’t managed to shift.
It’s often overlooked among the myriad achievements of the Frenchman that he was largely responsible for landing the ‘difficult first title’ that had eluded them for over a quarter of a century. That his transfer from soon-to-be-deposed champions Leeds left his former club languishing somewhere near the relegation zone come May was just one more stat to confirm Cantona's influence.
More features like this every day on FFT.com
featureThu, 09 Jul 2015 13:43:31 +0000Joe Brewin415054 at http://www.fourfourtwo.comIn the mag: Pirlo, Gazza, the ’80s indoor soccer league and football's style iconsGet your grubby mitts on the latest issue of FourFourTwo, available from Wednesday, July 1in print,on iPad and iPhone...http://www.fourfourtwo.com/features/mag-pirlo-gazza-80s-indoor-soccer-league-and-footballs-style-icons
For a period that offers no domestic football of any consequence, July is an oddly manic month. Transfers here, transfer rumours there, transfer flights for summer friendlies everywhere – there’s no time to stand and stare. Unless you’re Andrea Pirlo.
The Italian keeps his head while all about him are losing theirs, so to take your mind off such a busy off-season, we’re paying tribute to a man who doesn’t do running. Or training. Or any unnecessary effort at all, really.
The hirsute leader of renaissance football is also the game’s last great luxury player; a man for the ages; a man for the perfect summer read. And we bet you didn’t know he’s a prankster.
Plus: in celebration of The Architect’s strolling magnificence, we present the style icon shootout. Who had the cool and swagger to define them as the ultimate hipster hero: Socrates? Georgie Best? Jay-Jay Okocha? Pirlo would be proud.
At the other end of the activity spectrum, but no less legendary, is Paul John Gascoigne. Before the tawdry tabloid tales of excess there was breathtaking brilliance that made the nation – the world – sit up and gasp. Thirty years on from his debut, and 25 years after his tears in Turin, FourFourTwo and the man himself look back at the lesser-known best of Gazza on the pitch. He could teach Pirlo a thing or two about pranks, too…
So, it’s summer, as you may have noticed. And if you’re one who takes the phrase ‘Sun’s out, guns out’ as a rule that must be obeyed, rest assured you're in good company: for decades, footballers have used July as an excuse to show off more than their skills. If you’ve ever wanted to see Kevin Keegan in tiny Union Jack pants – and why wouldn’t you? – then you’ll enjoy our Picture Special of players on holiday.
Lovely. But for real glitz and glamour, we head to the States and the 1980s. For a time, the USA’s home of football – real football – featured oiled-up players carrying long-stemmed roses as they entered the pitch from a replica spaceship. No, really. Welcome to the Major Indoor Soccer League, a world of dry ice, Disco Steve and a dozen goals per game. Our Action Replay feature on the madness of it all is a must-read.
Back in the present, we’re going to take the risk of sounding like hipsters and tell you this: Icelandic football is going places. As the national team edge closer to Euro 2016 qualification, FFT heads to the Arctic Circle to watch a title-deciding night match played in broad daylight. As you do.
Scouting these days is about more than simply identifying a player’s weakness in the air or gushing over his wand of a left foot. In fact, in our feature on scouting for personality we are told: “It’s about looking into a player’s life: what they do at weekends, what they did at school.” Football’s spies lift the lid on the lengths they go to so that a new signing is the right fit. Meanwhile, World Cup winner and Middlesbrough legend Juninho answers readers’ questions about going bald for Brazil and freezing his nips off in the North East. A sneak preview: he thinks Craig Hignett was vastly underrated.
Elsewhere in the magazine, available in print, on iPhone and on iPad, we celebrate summer in Performance by talking you through the right holiday books, booze and beach exercises, while asking Daley Blind for his off-season tips and showing you how to rock the beach like CR7.
You want more? Well, in Upfront we reveal the undiscovered rules of prehistoric football, found in cave etchings, put silly questions to a very confused Paulo Ferreira and listen to Guam’s World Cup qualifying song, made by Elvis Costello’s brother.
Still not enough? Then take a gander at Marco van Basten’s Perfect XI or flick through Planet Football, where we introduce you to Norway’s Moneyball FC, the misery being heaped on an overseas Newcastle side even more dysfunctional than Mike Ashley’s mob, and a German team that was promoted because nobody wanted to play them. Phew. Who needs a Kindle when you can pack all this into your suitcase?
The August 2015 issue of FourFourTwo was brought to you by Paul Gascoigne, Marco van Basten, Felipe Anderson, Gary Mabbutt, Tony Carr, Daley Blind, Alvin Martin, Juninho Paulista, Ally McCoist, Marco Schenardi, Adelio Moro, Davor Suker, Paul McVeigh, Dmitry Selyuk, Sam Hewson, Craig Allen, Paulo Ferreira, Glen Riddersholm, Rasmus Ankersen, Sol Campbell, Gary White, Ritchie Branagan, Toddy Orlygsson, Axel Witsel, Guy Butters, Peter Shilton, Andy Chapman, Nicklas Bendtner, Sam Tillen, Craig Hignett, Joe Allon (not Joe Allen), Andy Goram, Bjarki Gunnlaugsson, actor Daniel Mays, Elvis Costello’s brother and Luther Blissett.Available from July 1in print,on iPad and on iPhoneorSUBSCRIBE!
featureTue, 30 Jun 2015 15:13:12 +0000Gregor MacGregor411221 at http://www.fourfourtwo.comTop 10 players turned politicians: heard about the PM on Football Manager?Sol Campbells recent decision to run for Mayor of London isnt the first venture into politics by a former footballer, as Matthew Jones notes...Matt Joneshttp://www.fourfourtwo.com/features/top-10-players-turned-politicians-heard-about-pm-football-manager
Perhaps unsurprisingly, the ex-Tottenham, Arsenal and England stopper has announced he'll be bidding to take his "lovely banter" to replace BoJo at City Hall in 2016. But plenty of players past and present have had a crack at politics before him, with varying degrees of success...
The Colombian candidate
The iconically-coiffed Carlos Valderamma is now rubbing shoulders with besuited bigwigs in his native country, standing as a candidate in the national elections. Representing the U Party, the Colombian hero is full of confidence.
“Having played so many games with Colombia’s national team, this time I’m going to play the best game of my life with the U Party for the country’s Senate,” he chirped.
Wilmot’s woes
Current national team manager and Belgium’s top goalscorer at World Cups, Marc Wilmots, had a relatively unsuccessful stint in Belgian politics. After hanging up his boots in 2003, Wilmots was elected to the Senate that same year for French-speaking liberal party Mouvement Réformateur (MR).
But the Bull of Dongeleberg, as he's apparently called in Belgian football, resigned in 2005 against tradition. Suffice to say, he's probably better suited to steering Belgium to the Euros next summer.
Don’t miss with Lilian
Lilian Thuram has pretty much won everything that he’s ever been involved in - even a debate with the future French president. In 2005, the then UMP leaderNicolas Sarkozy took on Thuram in a national television debate where he labelled kids from the French ghettos as “scum”. The former right-back replied to the right-winger in typical no-nonsense fashion: “I’m no scum.”
Two years later, the freshly-minted President Sarkozy offered the World Cup winner a role as Minister of Diversity. Thuram declined.
Weah cleverer than you, George
In 2005, shortly after the end of the Second Liberian Civil War, 1995 Ballon D’or winner George Weah announced his intentions to run for presidency in Liberia. But popular as he was in his native homeland, the opposition cited him as an inexperienced politician with no education and labelled him “babe in the woods”. Weah lost to the Harvard-educated Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, but in 2014 he beat her son Robert to the Senate of Congress for Democratic Change. Congratulations, George - babe of the woods no more.
From Russia with political views
Not many people could juggle the demands of being a Premier League striker and a politician, but Roman Pavlyuchenko gave it a try. In 2007, the year before joining Tottenham, the Russian hitman secured a seat in his hometown of Stavropol for Vladimir Putin’s United Russia Party (as if having Harry Redknapp as your other boss wasn't scary enough).
A Russian football commentator claimed the only reason Pavlyuchenko took to politics was because “the international financial crises affected his wages”. He managed more votes than goals, though.
Arsh in the Kremlin
Pav's comatriot and North London rival Andrey Arshavin also had a pop at scoring a political job in Russia – but somewhat familiarly for Arsenal fans, he missed. The ex-Russia captain also ran for Putin’s party in 2007 in the regional council elections, but unlike Pavlychenko, Arshavin decided to focus fully on football and withdrew himself before the votes could be casted.
Oleh!
Confounding the old saying, Oleh Blokhin is a jack of all trades and master of one or two. The record goalscorer for Dynamo Kiev and the Soviet Union became the first manager to get Ukraine to a major finals and even found time to be elected into the country's parliament. The sexegenarian was voted in with the Hromada party in 1998 while being a member of the Communist Party of Ukraine. And they say men can't multi-task.
Laws of the game
Thomas Bodström played in Sweden’s top tier for AIK Stockholm for two seasons before graduating from Stockholm University with a Bachelor of Laws degree. The son of a former politician was named as the Minister for Justice in 2000 andheld the post for six years, made even more impressive thanks to the fact that he wasn’t even an MP.
You’re fired!
Grzegorz Lato, the 1974 World Cup Golden Boot winner, boasts a century of Poland caps and bagged 45 goals for the national team. He also entered the political cauldron in 2001 as senator for the Democratic Left Alliance Party before taking on the role as president for the Polish FA. In that role, he sacked Dutch coach Leo Beenhaker live on television after Poland's failure to qualify for the 2010 World Cup via a 3-0 defeat to Slovenia. Ouch.
Football Manager PM
Viktor Orban played amateur football for his local team Felcsut FC in Hungary. He has been the Prime Minister since 2010, his second term after holding the post from 1998-2002. But he didn’t let running a country get in his way of playing and, on the fringes of Felcsut in 2001, cancelled a cabinet meeting to play for them. Fans of Football Manager 2006 might recognise the name - he was available for transfer if you fancied a Prime Minister shoring up your backline.
More features like this on FFT.com daily
featureTue, 09 Jun 2015 11:21:06 +0000Joe Brewin401050 at http://www.fourfourtwo.comCampbell: I didn't enjoy 'fractious' derbiesFormer Arsenal defender Sol Campbell has admitted he doesnt look back fondly on playing against Spurs following his controversial departure from White Hart Lane in 2001.http://www.fourfourtwo.com/news/campbell-i-didnt-enjoy-fractious-derbies
Campbell's move across north London enraged Tottenham fans, with the then-England international walking out of his boyhood club on a Bosman free transfer.
And the 40-year-old has exclusively told FourFourTwo that, although the prospect of returning to White Hart Lane didn't cause him to lose any sleep, he certainly didn't enjoy his reunions with his former employers.
"I didn’t dread it," Campbell told FFT. "They were amazing games, but they were always a big hassle for me.
"We had a great record at Arsenal against Tottenham but everything about the game and the lead-up to it was fractious. I didn’t enjoy it, but the other guys loved the buzz around derby week. It consumes you – players and fans.
"Life has gone on. There’s no need for me to [look] back. I’m on another level, I’ve moved on and won what I’ve won and done what I’ve done and I’m really proud of what I’ve achieved under all that pressure. So for me that is just history now."
Campbell won two Premier League titles and three FA Cups during his five years with the Gunners, compared to just a single League Cup during nine years in Tottenham's first team.
SEE ALSOCampbell tipping Arsenal for derby success against Spurs
Sol Campbell was speaking on behalf of The Great British Brekkie at www.greatbritishbrekkie.org.uk. Support their work with bereaved children by texting BREK13 to 70070. For more information on Winston’s Wish, click here.
news_articleFri, 06 Feb 2015 17:50:00 +0000James Maw338717 at http://www.fourfourtwo.comCampbell tipping Arsenal for derby win over SpursA win for Arsenal in Saturdays north London derby would eventually see the Gunners finish the season well ahead of arch rivals Tottenham, according to Sol Campbell - and the retired defender believes theyll get it.http://www.fourfourtwo.com/news/campbell-tipping-arsenal-derby-win-over-spurs
Spurs currently trail their neighbours by two points in the race for a Champions League spot, with the pair sat in sixth and fifth in the Premier League standings.
Campbell, who controversially left White Hart Lane for Arsenal on a Bosman free transfer in the summer of 2001, exclusively told FourFourTwo that both his former clubs are still well in the hunt for a top four finish.
"Both teams are showing really good signs," Campbell told FFT. "I think fourth place is really up for grabs. All the teams fighting for it have got a chance.
"Anything can happen in football, but whoever wins on Saturday will really hamper and knock the other team back - not just for one game, but for the next two or three.
"If Arsenal win, I think they are in the clear, momentum will get going and they’ll get well ahead of Tottenham. If Tottenham win, they will think they can get up there.
"It’s not like the start of the season where you can jostle for position and think ‘we can lose this one and make it up later on’. This game now you can knock someone out and ‘say see you later, I’m gone’. It’s a really interesting game that can both teams need to win.
"I’d say Arsenal [will win], but it will be close."
A victory for Arsene Wenger's side would see them open up a five-point lead over their rivals with 14 matches of the season remaining.
SEE ALSO Campbell: I didn't enjoy 'fractious' North London derbies
Sol Campbell was speaking on behalf of The Great British Brekkie atwww.greatbritishbrekkie.org.uk. Support their work with bereaved children by texting BREK13 to 70070. For more information onWinston’s Wish,click here.
news_articleFri, 06 Feb 2015 16:30:00 +0000James Maw338690 at http://www.fourfourtwo.comThe inverted Vardy: Ten players who got to the very top and worked their way downWith the football world going giddy for the story of Manchester United-bashing Leicester hero Jamie Vardy, who has risen six divisions in four years, Charles Ducksbury recalls some big names who went the other way...Charles Ducksburyhttp://www.fourfourtwo.com/features/inverted-vardy-ten-players-who-got-very-top-and-worked-their-way-down
Not every big-name footballer bows out at the top.
For every Zinedine Zidane who goes out at the summit with, err, a bang, there's a player who keeps the dream going by turning out for - with the greatest of respect - less glamorous sides in the lower leagues.
Here are 10 who did just that...
Paul Gascoigne
Just 10 years after penning a huge contract with Italian giants Lazio, Gascoigne was signing a new lucrative deal...with League Two Boston United. Mis-hitting a shot into the face of a small girl who was Boston’s mascot for the day on his debut, he left after five league games, partly because the club wouldn’t let him participate in I’m a Celebrity, and partly so he could pursue his management career. Sadly for Gazza, that career started and ended with a 39-day spell at Kettering. On leaving Boston, Gascoigne stated: “I have left on good terms, shaking hands with [manager] Steve Evans”, perhaps in part explaining his lack of job offers since.
George Best
When the man who Pele described as ‘the greatest’ left Manchester United as a 28-year old, he began a nomadic existence - with spells for clubs in South Africa, Hong Kong and the USA, among others - before ending his professional career in Division Three with Bournemouth. Playing five games at the end of the 1982-83 season, his final ever professional game was against Wigan, with the match day programme featuring an interview with Best in which he states he was enjoying life on the south-coast, though quite how he felt about the interviewer labeling him as “..the portly 36-year-old” will remain unknown.
Bruno N'Gotty
N’Gotty’s former sides include Marseille, PSG and Milan, but after nine years in England, having initially arrived in England with Bolton Wanderers in 2001, he eventually wound up on loan at League One relegation battlers Hereford United, via Birmingham and Leicester. He made his international debut on the same day as Zinedine Zidane and Lilian Thuram, but while Zizou scored three World Cup final goals and Thuram became France’s most capped player, N’Gotty’s professional career ended with a ruptured Achilles playing for the Bulls at Peterborough in 2008.
Fabrizio Miccoli
After a successful career playing for the likes of Juventus, Fiorentina and Benfica, pint-sized forward Miccoli finally found a home at Sicilian club Palermo. Adored by the fans, the Italian international netted 74 goals in 165 games as the Rosonero challenged for Europe for the majority of his seven years in the city. However, in 2013 he was caught negotiating with the mafia and called murdered mafia investigator Giovanni Falcone ‘filth’. Miccoli said he needed to be “reborn and stop being so stupid”, deciding to do so in Italy’s third-tier at hometown side Lecce.
Alan Smith
After declaring he could “never play for Manchester United”, striker Smith joined the Red Devils from arch rivals Leeds in 2004. An England squad regular, he netted on his Manchester United debut in the Community Shield, but could only add six more goals to his tally, eventually being converted into a midfielder by Sir Alex. Smith was on the end of a tongue lashing from Roy Keane in the infamous MUTV interview after a 4-1 defeat at Middlesbrough, with the Irishman describing Smith as “wandering around and not knowing what he was doing”. Smith moved soon after, first to Newcastle, then MK Dons and most recently Notts County.
Chris Waddle
One of the most gifted players of his generation, Waddle won 62 England caps and became a legend at almost every club he played for, including Newcastle, Tottenham, Marseille and Sheffield Wednesday. At 39, Waddle signed for Worksop Town in the Unibond Premier, and on his debut against Runcorn promptly smashed a car window with a wayward shot. Of his spell in Nottinghamshire, Waddle remembers: “I’d sell a defender a couple of dummies, but get clattered because the defender hadn’t read the first one!”
Alessandro Birindelli
Full-back Birindelli played 11 seasons for Juventus, winning four titles and reaching a Champions League final with the Turin giants. After staying with the club after a Calciopoli-imposed season in Serie B, the Juve legend planned to end his career at hometown club Pisa in Serie B. After his boyhood heroes were struck by relegation and bankruptcy, Birindelli moved on again, this time joining Valle del Giovenco of Serie C, declaring “I was convinced by the owner's ambition”. After lumbering around Italian villages for a year, it was deja-vu for Birindelli as his club were again relegated and declared bankrupt. Sensibly, Birindelli retired.
Ludovic Giuly
In his prime during the mid-00s, the diminutive Frenchman was one of Europe’s most dangerous wingers, playing for Monaco, Barcelona, Roma and PSG. After spells back at Monaco and then Lorient, Giuly signed for hometown side and fourth-tier minnows Monts d’Or Azergues, who play at the handily named Stade Ludovic Giuly. “I wanted to feel like a kid again” said the Champions League winner upon signing, before leading his new club to the last 32 of the French Cup, where they were beaten 3-0 by Monaco in a game that saw Radamel Falcao suffer the injury that forced him to miss the 2014 World Cup.
Paul Merson
The modern teenager will see ‘Merse’ as little more than a bumbling TV pundit who struggles to pronounce any foreign name containing more than one syllable, but Merson was once one of England’s most creative players. After being sacked as manager of Walsall in 2006, the former Arsenal, Middlesbrough and Villa star offered to play for his friend Mark Cooper at Tamworth in the Conference. He told FourFourTwo: “We went one down in the first minute of my first game and I thought ‘What am I doing here?’”. After losing the next game 5-0, Merson promptly retired to concentrate on making Charlie Nicholas sound eloquent.
Sol Campbell
After spending his entire career in the top flight with Tottenham, Arsenal and Portsmouth, Campbell was without a club for the start of the 2009/10 season. When Notts County Director of Football Sven-Goran Eriksson offered him a five-year deal worth £40,000-a-week to join the League Two side, the defender signed up for the ambitious project fronted by the mysterious Munto Finance. Days after making his debut in a 2-1 defeat by Morecambe, Campbell walked out of training and tore up his contract, citing broken promises which included Roberto Mancini taking over as coach, and stars such as Roberto Carlos and Benjani joining the playing staff. On suggestions he couldn’t cope with life in League Two, Campbell retorted: “Remember I used to be at Portsmouth, have you seen Fratton Park?”
featureFri, 26 Sep 2014 16:30:00 +0000James Maw259182 at http://www.fourfourtwo.comSol: Black players scared to talk about racismFormer England centre-back Sol Campbell believes black players are too scared to openly talk about racism in football.http://www.fourfourtwo.com/news/sol-black-players-scared-talk-about-racism
Campbell claimedin March that he could have been captain of his country for 10 years had he been white, in anauthorised biography serialised in theSunday Times.
That assertion was met with scepticism in some quarters, including from Paul Ince - whobecame the first black player to skipperEngland in a friendly against the United States in June 1993.
Campbell - who represented clubs includingArsenal andTottenham during hiscareer -has now stated his belief that some black ex-professionals are afraid to speak out about racial abuse,and he is disappointed by the lack of support forhis opinions.
"They are seeing what is happening around them and they don't do anything about it. They love the status quo. They just want to toe the line," Campbell said at the opening of the Black Cultural Archive in London, as reported bythe Daily Mirror.
"It's a case of 'I'm all right, I don't care who is coming up behind me. I'm too scared to own up'. Well, I'm not like that and I am never going to be like that, I'm just going to be me.
"People could have said what they did in a different way. John Barnes had bananas thrown at him. He is almost acting like nothing happened to him. People like him could have said, 'maybe not 10 years, but I could see where he was coming from. Articulate it in a different way.'"
On Ince, he added: "Then you've got Paul Ince [speaking] in the Daily Mail. It's like: 'Really?!'What position are you protecting when your position can so easily be taken away?
"I know some of the political people are trying to kind of move the FA [Football Association] in certain ways.
"But you just get to the stage where, if I've got black ex-players going against me then you start to think: 'What is going on here? I'll just let people drift and carry on doing my own thing.'"
news_articleMon, 28 Jul 2014 08:28:32 +0000Anonymous220149 at http://www.fourfourtwo.comSol Campbell: One-on-OneThe former Tottenham, Arsenal and England star chats controversial transfers, scurrilous rumours, and his non-existent acting career with FFTs Charlie Ghagan...Charlie Ghaganhttp://www.fourfourtwo.com/features/sol-campbell-one-one
“Seriously, does anyone actually have a copy of that article? I’d love to see it.”
FFT is firing some hard-hitting readers’ questions at Sol Campbell, and we’ve just asked him about an oft-referenced interview he allegedly gave at Spurs in which he insisted he could never sign for Arsenal.
“I heard it’s mentioned on my Wikipedia page – but I’ve never even done one!” protests the 39-year-old, who clearly hasn’t spent much time on the internet since hanging up his boots three years ago. We’re in the lounge of the former defender’s swanky London apartment, enjoying a cuppa along with the fine views of the River Thames, and Sol is on a roll. “It’s like people who say I’m in the movie Snatch. Did you see me in it? You can watch the entire movie and I can promise you this, I’M NOT IN IT!” Not for the first time today, he breaks into laughter as he reflects on the hearsay and controversy that seemed to follow him around from the very moment he did the unthinkable in 2001 by crossing the north London divide from N17 to N5.
Never comfortable in the public eye during a playing career in which he preferred to let his football do the talking, the married father-of-two admits getting so much off his chest in his biography has been somewhat theraputic.
“I feel like I’ve been holding my breath for such a long time, and now [blows hard], it’s all out there. Everyone has the right to do that, but some of my comments about the England captaincy have been taken to another galaxy.”
We’ll get back to that later, after we’ve addressed the many other headline-grabbing stories that bookmarked the last decade for Sol: the ‘Judas’ chants, the gay slurs which led to his brother’s imprisonment, the half-time walkout against West Ham in 2006 and the farce that followed at Notts County. And then there’s the drama on the pitch, from the two goals that never stood for England to the one that did in the Champions League final.
Regrets? Sol’s got a few, but as he tells us, he’s still got unfinished business in the game...
You started out as a striker and then moved back to defence – why was that?
Andy Lane, via email
No, I actually started at the back. Then midfield, then sweeper, then centre-half, then forward and then midfield... then at Spurs I went up front in the youth team, but made my first-team debut at left-back! So I did a circle aged 10-20. No one was responsible, they just moved me around. That was good for my development. On the street as a kid you don’t care about positions, you’re everywhere, but kids don’t play on the streets like they used to – they’re all on iPads and PlayStations.
As the youngest of 12 children, how tight was money in east London as a kid? Did you ever get caught up in trouble?
Barry Robins, via Facebook
Playing the arcades was my weak point, and I saw a lot of trouble, but I was wary not to get involved in it. For some reason I just knew that wasn’t the right way. I was afraid of my mum as well – and that should be the way. Money was very tight. But you learn how to make things last and how to treasure even the little things, like a tennis ball to play football with.
You were on the receiving end of a racist joke while at West Ham as a youth player, and quit for Spurs over it. If it wasn’t for that, might you have stayed with the club?
Clint Gibbs, Essex
Who knows? I was too young to think about my future in such a way. The coach said what he did and I just wanted to move on. At the time I’d had enough of control. I didn’t want to be told I had to be here or there – I had enough of that at home. At 13, I just wanted to be free to play and enjoy football, on the streets or in the park. Obviously when you get older there should be rules and structure, but at that age that’s how I felt.
I remember reading about your days at the FA’s school of excellence at Lilleshall, where you used to stay behind to do some extra work on maths. Were you the class swot?
Don Wood, via Facebook
I stayed behind because I had to catch up. Lilleshall was a lifesaver, really. I got out of London, I went to a really nice school with people who were happy to teach me. At home my parents were worried about working, so it was all me pushing to do homework. At 14, I had a lot of catching up to do. I was a bright kid but I was never going to completely catch up as I missed those formative years.
Why did you change your name from Sulzeer?
John Adams, Horley
Because I didn’t like my name. I used to think, why does everyone in my family have names like John, Paul, Peter... and I’m Sulzeer? The change happened in my first youth tour with England. My name was blasted out over the Tannoy and they got it completely wrong. To make it easier I changed it to Sol and it stuck. It’s almost like a stage name, to be honest.
How did your family react when you got home from scoring on your Spurs debut against Chelsea in 1992? What a start!
Lisa Nichols, Watford
They didn’t know. I would go to football, come back, and no one battered an eyelid. I was literally left to my own devices. [FFT: Did you not want to share it with your family when you got home?] No, I didn’t tell them. No one really wanted to know and I was very shy. They only found out about me when they started reading it in the papers. I never talked about my football, and that stuck with me.
There was a period at Spurs where you would have at least one marauding run with the ball out of defence in every game. Was this something you planned?
Ed Lambert, Norwich
Because I used to play up front, I think I tried to reminisce to myself and say, “this is how you used to do it, Sol!” I used to run with the ball a lot. My team-mates were OK with it because I was almost like a rugby player when they charge through. Like when a winger drives forward, it naturally moves the whole team up. It was one thing getting up there, but another getting back!
What was it like as a defender playing behind Ossie Ardilles’ famous five? Is it true he never worked on defending with his Spurs team?
Francis Santiago, London
Yeah, we never worked on it. If I’d had another five years on me, you could do that, but I was too young and inexperienced for such a system
With everything that’s happened, it’s easy to forget what a brilliant nine years you had at Spurs. What was your best memory?
Simon Wallace, Teddington
Scoring on my debut was special, as was winning my first cup, the Worthington Cup [vs Leicester in 1999]. There were special moments with players, too. When Jurgen Klinsmann arrived, I took a lot of interest in him. The way he acted, or lost it sometimes, after games. It was always the same routine: effing and blinding, flip-flops thrown all over the place, grabs a towel, straight in the shower [laughs]. But he really wanted to win and I liked that.
[FFT: What about the Spurs fans?] Hopefully some of them still appreciate what I did. There were a couple of seasons when I had to keep them up. I was 21, 22 and only missed one game. I enjoyed my time at Spurs, I just wish they had invested a bit more. And the turnover of managers was just too much for me. The progression just wasn’t there.
In your book you say the most Spurs paid you was £13,500 a week and you had “muppet team-mates on treble the money”. Why do you think the club was not rewarding you?
Elijah Hammond, Malden
When I say muppets, I was talking about guys on three times more than me, yet nowhere near the England team. They were on a great wage but not performing. I was on far less but I can say I was performing all the time – on and off the field. People need to realise I did it proper at Spurs. I was really disciplined. If I didn’t do things properly then my performance would have showed after time, and some of my team-mates weren’t doing it on the pitch. Rewards-wise, my contract was running down, then I found out in the papers I wasn’t going to be the best-paid player if I re-signed [chairman Alan Sugar had told Sol he would be], and I thought, ‘Why lie? I’m leaving’.
You have revealed that David Ginola liked a cigarette and an espresso at half-time at Spurs. With this is mind, do you think he was worth the big investment?
Ali Hart, via email
Oh, David was a wonderful player. Very strong, tall. If you gave him the ball, he could run at you 10 times and not be out of breath. But if you asked him to run back without the ball just once, it was really hard work for him! It was actually harder for him to run without the ball! [laughs] It was just a mind thing. Above all, he was a fantastic chester of the ball, like Mark Hughes. The ball would just drop at his feet.
Is it right that when George Graham arrived at Spurs he wanted to replace you as captain with Tim Sherwood?
Spencer Ramsey, Hull
He never said it verbally, but yes he did. George arrived, it was clear he wanted Tim as captain, and I was like, that’s not happening. So they tried to work around it. I don’t think people realised how big I was going to become. I was 23, 24 years old and I had the strength and determination to say ‘no, I’m going nowhere, I’m an England player, I’m playing out of my skin – you might not like how I am but sorry, I am the future. So until I’m gone from this club it’s not going to happen.’ I didn’t verbally say that but how I carried myself said that. It’s quite sad really that people can lose sight of where they are and not look at the bigger picture. I found out for sure what they were doing when we played at Newcastle. I was standing in the tunnel, I had Alan Shearer right by my ear hole – he was making sure I could hear – saying to [former Blackburn team-mate] Sherwood: “Tim, have you taken the armband off him yet?” [FFT: How did you react to that?] I said nothing. I had a game and wasn’t going to let it disturb me. I’d say Tim now is pretty much how he was back then.
It sounds like you were keen to move abroad, both after leaving Spurs, and later when you left Arsenal. What was the closest you came?
Gabriel Richardson, via Facebook
Inter Milan was the closest [in 2001]. If AC Milan had come, I would have definitely gone. I could have spent five years abroad and come back. But I just felt at Inter... I looked at the training ground and thought, why don’t they fix it up? I can’t understand it when a club spends so much on players, yet ignores the training ground or the main ground. It was the same at Portsmouth. They had a chance to buy their training ground for just over £1 million and they didn’t do it.
You weren’t the first to cross the divide from Spurs to Arsenal, Pat Jennings being the biggest name. Why do you think you were treated so differently?
DJ, via Facebook
Maybe because the fans loved me... maybe because the club didn’t get any money from me... maybe because of that article claiming I said I’d never play for Arsenal! This supposed one line, that someone went looking for with a magnifying glass, that I’ve never even seen.
What was going through your mind on your return to White Hart Lane with Arsenal, when you saw 4,000 balloons released with ‘Judas’ written on them?
Leon Bell, Alton
Football-wise, the crowd got me wired. I don’t think many in the game have played in one with that type of atmosphere, no chance. I felt on a different level – I was alive, it was an incredible kind of feeling.
But on an emotional level, it was disgusting. Yes, I knew how people would react but that level was just... [shakes head] there were biblical kinds of flags contradicting each other... there were drapes everywhere... all those balloons. And the faces! It was like people wanted to kill me with their expressions. There were men, women, children, black, white, Indian. It was just like, wow. So emotional, it took a lot to get through the game and that day.
Have you made peace with your brother Tony, who you saw in the Tottenham end when you were getting abuse from the White Hart Lane crowd? Did you actually see him join in with the chants?
B Power, Glasgow
I don’t think he was chanting, no – that would have been too much. But he was in there, and I couldn’t believe it. It’s amazing really, he could have been sat anywhere that day, but I happened to pick his face out. We’ve made a certain amount of peace. He’s always going to be a Tottenham fan, and that’s not a problem.
How did you react when your brother John was jailed for assaulting a man who suggested you were gay?
Emma Hay, via Facebook
That was tough. Yes, he had a fight, but the actual basis of that fight had no foundation. Nothing. And he went to prison for that. For me, to be accused of something you have not done, or is not you, is the worst thing. But my brothers were in an environment where they could not be protected, they were interacting with people on a different level. I could live in a bit of a bubble, but he was coming into contact with other football fans who wanted to get the upper hand, and he wasn’t used to that. It all spawned from an absolute cesspit of lies.
Who do you think was responsible for starting the rumours about your sexuality?
Chad Smith, via Facebook
I don’t know. Some people are lazy with their observations and some people want to dig deeper and find out a bit more. And if you did dig deeper, you’d realise I’m just a normal guy. At the time I had my girlfriends, but I kept it low key. I didn’t want to show off. I didn’t want to have a new girlfriend every month and if I did I wouldn’t want to tell everyone. But when my brother was jailed, that’s when it really started to hurt me.
I remember hearing about Argentina’s gloating in front of the England team at France 98. Were you not tempted to do the same after we got revenge four years later?
Dean Carter, Kent
Well, that would have got us nowhere, and I think the class thing to do was not to do it back. Argentina didn’t show any class in France. They were on their team coach after the game, and every single player I saw was half-naked at the window, banging away and waving their tops around as they sang loudly and looked right at us. It was embarrassing. I’ll never forget that.
You missed the 2003 FA Cup Final for Arsenal due to a red card for elbowing Ole Gunnar Solskjaer. How gutted were you over that?
Shane Mann, Lincolnshire
[Interrupting question] I didn’t elbow him. If you slow it down, you’ll see I touch him with the palm of my hand, and he goes down like a sack of whatever. That was the worst decision of my career, and it did the league and FA Cup for me. I’d played every game, including the semi-final, but that was my season over.
Is it true that you were relieved when the Arsenal Invincibles’ run finally ended after 49 games?
Stephen Cooper, Surrey
It was a shame that it had to end against Man United, but yeah, by then I was like ‘when will this finish?!’ [laughs]. It just kept building up. It was a wonderful achievement, don’t get me wrong, but in the end it felt like a relief, like it was time to move on.
Which tournament exit with England hurt the most for you, Sol? And which of your two disallowed goals was the biggest blow: Argentina in 98 or Portugal in 2004?
Turlough Shiels, via Facebook
I was on the bench for Euro 96 but that was a big chance. At home, fantastic team, plenty of momentum after a slow start, and we just came whiskers away [blows out of cheeks].
As for the disallowed goals, team-wise we had a better team in 2004, and that goal would’ve taken us to the semis. We had a good team against Argentina in France, but that was only a second round match. Both defeats hurt, but that’s what drives me on now to become a manager. I’m doing my badges, and one day I’d love to win everything I didn’t as a player.
When you famously walked out at half-time against West Ham in January 2006, did part of you think you would never play football again? What did you do after that game?
Zane Stillwell, Hereford
I went to Brussels for a few days. I didn’t think I’d quit, but I’d got to the stage when I thought, I really need to get away and play abroad. I tried but it didn’t work out that way. I’d had enough of England, London, everything. I just wanted to go back to playing the game and worrying about winning - no more - to find a club where all I needed to worry about was winning.
The 2006 Champions League Final: have you ever felt such elation on a football pitch as the moment your goal went in, especially considering what a stressful few months you’d had? How much did that defeat hurt?
Bryon Weller, via email
That game showed how I’d got myself together again, but I’d gladly give away scoring that goal if it meant winning the cup. Barcelona were struggling, they were waiting for the second goal to go in, but we couldn’t get it. No one knew [at the time] apart from me and the Arsenal hierarchy, but that was my last game.
He would later recall you due to injuries, but how annoyed were you with Steve McClaren for dropping you from his England squad via text message in 2006?
Jen Cronin, Wrexham
I was devastated. It felt like everything I’d done before for England meant nothing. There was no appreciation, no phone call, just a text. [FFT: Were you not tempted to say no when he later recalled you due to injuries?] I didn’t think about him, I thought about doing the best for my country. I wouldn’t have minded if he’d come to me and said, “Look, Sol, you’re at Portsmouth now, you’re still in my thoughts but right now we’re going in this direction...”, something like that. That’s respect, and it means you sign off on a proper level.
You were 34 years old when you joined League Two Notts County, but is it true they offered you more money than any club in your whole career? How much was it, and how much did you actually see?
Will Reynolds, Cheshire
It was my biggest contract, and it was for five years – that’s when I should have woken up! I just started getting phone calls from ex-FA people, some business people, who had heard rumours about the new owners. And that, along with my intuition, raised concerns. If you have that sort of money, things should be getting fixed daily, but nothing ever did. [FFT: Have you spoken to Sven-Goran Eriksson since he signed you for the club?] No, Sven still hasn’t said sorry for getting me involved. All he’s got to do is say sorry.
Have you thought about doing any more acting since retiring from football? I thought you were really good in Snatch.
Peter Webster, via email
There it is! [laughs] I think to act you need emotion, and I’ve got a lot of that... [pauses]... but then you’ve got to be willing to show that... I did look at the acting world, but my wife tells me it’s a strange world, and I’ve decided to pursue other things. [FFT: Rio Ferdinand told us he wanted to be the first black James Bond – would you fancy that role?] I could quite easily do it, yeah, but whether I could act it is another matter!
[FFT: Do you think there will ever be a black James Bond?] I like to think so. Whether it’ll happen in my time, I don’t know, but Bond seems to change every few films now, so I think that would be very cool.
What have you made of the reaction to the comments regarding institutional racism within the FA? If you felt so strongly about it, why did you wait so long to speak out?
Bill Rodgers, Bury
People have said to me that my comments [Sol believes that he would have been England captain for 10 years if he had been white] would have carried more weight before, but sometimes it’s better to step away and reflect on things before you come out and say them. When you’re still playing it can be chaos – there’s a lot of noise around whatever you say. But my book was a reflection, it’s what I’ve been through. The next person might come out and say it’s not like that [within the FA], but this is me and this is how I saw it.
'Sol Campbell: The Authorised Biography' by Simon Astaire is on sale now (Spellbinding Media)
featureTue, 10 Jun 2014 16:00:00 +0000James Maw266186 at http://www.fourfourtwo.com